Warriors forward Draymond Green reports feeling fully healthy and in shape for the second half of the season

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Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (23) reacts after blocking a shot by Houston Rockets’ Austin Rivers (25) during overtime of their NBA game at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019. The Houston Rockets defeated the Golden State Warriors in overtime 135-134. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Houston Rockets’ James Harden (13) shoots the game winning three-point basket past Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (23) and Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson (11) during overtime of their NBA game at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019. The Houston Rockets defeated the Golden State Warriors in overtime 135-134. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, center, goes up to the basket between Sacramento Kings’ Willie Cauley-Stein, left, and Nemanja Bjelica during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) is congratulated by Draymond Green (23) after Curry made a three-point field goal surpassing Jason Terry for third place on the NBAâ€™s all-time list in career 3-pointers in the third period of their basketball game against the Chicago Bulls in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)

Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (23) fights for a loose ball with Phoenix Suns’ Trevor Ariza (3) in the first quarter of their NBA game at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

From left, Golden State Warriors’ DeMarcus Cousins, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, Kevon Looney and Klay Thompson watch the fourth period of their basketball game against the Chicago Bulls from the bench in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)

Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (23) looks back after Houston Rockets’ James Harden (13) shoots the game winning three-point basket during overtime of their NBA game at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019. The Houston Rockets defeated the Golden State Warriors in overtime 135-134. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 8: Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (23), Stephen Curry (30), Kevin Durant (35) and Klay Thompson (11) stand up at the end of their 122-95 win against the New York Knicks at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2017. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, center, goes up to the basket between Sacramento Kings’ Willie Cauley-Stein, left, and Nemanja Bjelica during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

OAKLAND, CA – DECEMBER 27: Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green #23 is congratulated by Kevin Durant #35 after scoring a basket against the Portland Trail Blazers in the second quarter of their NBA game at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2018. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox, right, goes to the basket against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, left, during the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, in Sacramento, Calif. The Warriors won 127-123. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (23) guards Chicago Bulls’ Bobby Portis (5) in the third period of their basketball game in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 8: Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (23) high fives Klay Thompson (11) on his performance against the New York Knicks during the fourth quarter of a NBA game at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2017. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr gestures to an official as Draymond Green (23) helps Stephen Curry (30) up after a fall in the third period of their basketball game against the Chicago Bulls in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)

Golden State Warriors’ Damian Jones (15) and Draymond Green (23) double team Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker (1) in the first quarter of their NBA game at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (23), Kevin Durant (35) and Stephen Curry (30) walk on the court while playing against the San Antonio Spurs during the first quarter of Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. on Sunday, May 14, 2017. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson (11) is congratulated by Kevin Durant (35) and Draymond Green (23) after making a three-point field goal in the first period of their basketball game against the Chicago Bulls in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 31: Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green #23 has a foul called on him as New Orleans Pelicans’ Julius Randle #30 drives to the basket in the fourth quarter of their NBA game at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Golden State Warriors’ DeMarcus Cousins, left, and Draymond Green watch teammates from the bench in the third period of their basketball game against the Chicago Bulls in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)

DALLAS – No one has mistaken Draymond Green for lacking conviction or confidence.

“There ain’t five players in this league that are better than me defensively,” Green said.

Even with that conviction and confidence, though, Green still has self awareness and humility.

The Warriors’ All-Star forward declined to single out who made last season’s NBA All-Defensive First team at his expense. He had no interest in providing bulletin board material or openly disrespecting Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis, Indiana Pacers forward Victor Oladipo, New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday and Philadelphia 76ers forward Robert Covington. While Gobert won the NBA’s DPOY, the other four players joined him on the NBA’s All-Defensive First team.

“I’m not one to call out anyone else and say, ‘I should’ve been on that.’ That’s hating type stuff,” Green said. “I don’t do that. Everybody who is on there, they did something to deserve to be on there. I’m not that type of guy that will throw shade at somebody else. I just know there aren’t five defensive players that are better than me. But I’m never going to be the guy to go at somebody and say, ‘Why this guy?’ I wasn’t raised like that.”

Green was raised, though, to find varying sources of motivation. Ever since the season started, Green talked openly about wanting to reclaim the NBA’s DPOY Award from Gobert after previously winning it two seasons ago.

The early returns, though, did not look promising. Green missed a combined 13 games while nursing pain in a toe in his right foot. Green and Kevin Durant had their infamous argument two months ago. And the Warriors had varying learning curves both with a younger bench and adapting to the league-wide increase in pace and 3-point attempts.

The Warriors (28-14) enter Sunday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks (20-22), however, believing they are removing the dents from their championship armor. They have a three-game winning streak. They rested their All-Stars in the low 30-minute range in a blowout win over New York and under 30 minutes in a breezy win over Chicago. They await DeMarcus Cousins return this week after rehabbing his left Achilles tendon for the past 11 months.

As for Green? Warriors coach Steve Kerr observed, “he’s really playing at a high level. It’s reflected in how we’re playing as a team.” All of which leaves Green with plenty of confidence he can make up ground for his quest to collect another DPOY trophy.

Beyond having more bragging rights about his defensive smarts, versatility and intensity, Green will be eligible for a supermax contract extension for five years at $235 million. But Green, who currently will be an unrestricted free agent in the 2020 offseason, has long maintained the financial ramifications do not factor into his thought process.

“My thought process is still to go get it done,” Green said. “We have another 40 games this year where I can completely dominate defensively and go take that award. That’s my goal.”

Green spent the first half of the season playing from behind

The NBA made the announcement on its All-Defensive teams in the middle of the 2018 Western Conference Finals between the Warriors and Houston Rockets. Then, Green was in the middle of a dominant postseason stretch in which the Warriors ranked second among playoff teams in points allowed (100.4), first in defensive field-goal percentage (42.3) and first in defensive rating (101.7), which measures the amount of an opponent’s points per 100 possessions. In related news, the Warriors eventually won their third NBA championship in the past four years.

But when the NBA named Green on its All-Defensive Second Team, media members voted on regular season performances. Then, Green missed a combined 12 games that included a sore right shoulder (seven games), the flu (two) a sprained left index finger (one) and a pelvic contusion (one). He admittedly lacked consistent intensity. The Warriors’ defensive performances took a relative dip with a 16th ranking in points allowed (107.5), third in defensive field-goal percentage (44.7) and 11th place in defensive rating (106.8).

Nonetheless, Green put more onus on the voters than his play.

“There ain’t five players in this league that are better than me defensively,” Green said. “So I don’t know what the hell people got wrong. But that’s just wrong.”

All of which gave him plenty to stew about during the offseason. He could not channel that frustration onto the court, though.

Sure, Green trained in his hometown of Saginaw, MI and played pickup games during his “Grind Week” camp in Oakland in early August. Other than that, Green mostly rested. He needed to clear his mind and heal his shoulders, knees and hips. So he mostly spent his summer traveling the world to Greece (Santorini, Mykonos), Israel (Tel Aviv), France (Paris, Bordeaux) and Mexico (Cabo San Lucas).

Then when training camp opened, Green missed three exhibition games because of a sore left knee. That did not stop Green from helping the Warriors to a 10-1 start. Then, the Warriors ranked 10th in defensive rating (106.3), eighth in defensive field-goal percentage (44 percent), tied for seventh in second-chance points allowed (11.6), 12th in fast-break points allowed (12.7) and seventh in points in the paint allowed (44.4).

After Green injured his toe in his right foot on Nov. 5 against Memphis, however, both the Warriors’ identity and Green’s game changed for the worse.

He missed two games before admittedly rushing back too early on Nov. 12 against the Clippers. Green had his flareup with Durant, which resulted in a one-game suspension against Atlanta. Green played on a minutes restriction (24) against Houston two days later without effectiveness. The Warriors then shut down Green for the next 11 games that spanned 3 ½ weeks. When Green was either sidelined or limited for 15 games, the Warriors fared 18th in defensive rating (108.8), 21st in second-chance points allowed (14.1), 20th in fast-break points allowed (14.1) and 18th in points in the paint allowed (49.4).

In his first game back, Green returned and helped the Warriors to a win over Minnesota on Dec. 10 by doing what he does best. He stuffed the box score (eight points, seven rebounds, five assists). He made stops. He delivered intangibles. He barked at officials and teammates. He even reported feeling no pain in his toe during and after the game.

And yet, Green said he did not feel completely in shape. That contributed to Green shooting only 37.1 percent from the field and 26.7 from 3 through 11 games in December.

“That doesn’t just go away,” Green said. “You get to the point where it’s not painful every step you take and you tolerate it. That’s where I was coming back and then trying to get in shape and trying to get a rhythm. There is the physical side. That took a little while.”

Meanwhile, the Warriors labored through other defensive issues. Though he struggled with foul trouble, Damian Jones’ season-ending injury to his left pectoral muscle on Dec. 1 left the Warriors without a true seven-foot center. Though the Warriors have often considered Kevon Looney as a superior defender over Jordan Bell, both faced learning curves with the increased role and being undersized. So, the Warriors had Green and Jonas Jerebko also play at center. Green observed he and his teammates struggled with defensive communication because of new personnel, noting that he and former Warriors veteran David West had often known where each other was rotating.

Warriors assistant coach Ron Adams, who oversees the team’s defense, factored all of those variables when evaluating a defense that he called “up and down.” But had Green remained healthy, would he have been able to camouflage all of the Warriors’ defensive shortcomings?

“It’s a little bit of a different playing field out there for him, defensively. But when he’s top-of-the-line healthy, I don’t think that’s a great insurmountable issue,” Adams said. “He is a force physically and his body needs to be really solid for him to do the things he has done for us.”

(Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Green maintains he currently feels at his best

The Warriors forward struggled to pinpoint when he felt like how he did when he won a DPOY award (2017) and landed on three NBA All-Defensive first teams (2015-17). Recently, though, Green reported feeling at his best.

“I feel great now both physically and mentally,” Green said. “I’m in a great space. I’m starting to feel like my game is getting to where it needs to be. It’s improving. I’m in a good place.”

The Warriors’ current three-game winning streak is a small sample size. They scratched out a win against the Kings despite allowing them shoot 20-of-36 from 3. They had two feel-good wins against Eastern Conference doormats (New York, Chicago). Despite Green’s scoreless performance against Chicago, however, Kerr pinpointed Green’s presence as the main reason for the team’s improved pace and ball movement.

And defensively? Kerr noted, “this is his best stretch of the season; it’s probably not a coincidence that he’s in the best shape he’s been in.”

“Draymond is a guy that is always going to figure it out,” Looney said. “He made his career off of being a hard-nosed guy and people saying he can’t do certain things. He figured it out. When he’s struggling, I don’t worry about him and what he’s got going on. I know he’s going to give us effort.”

Will that be enough for Green to reclaim his DPOY trophy?

Green believes so. After all, Kawhi Leonard won one of his two DPOY awards in 2014-15 despite missing 18 games that season. So why can’t Green?

Still, plenty of work remains. Since Green has returned from his injury, the Warriors have ranked 20th in points allowed (113.5), 10th in defensive field-goal percentage (45.2 percent) and 14th in defensive rating (109).

“That’s on me. I have to have guys locked in on that side of the ball to make sure we’re good,” Green said. “We’re moving in the right direction. But if I do what I do defensively, that’ll handle itself.”

Kerr and Adams smiled about Green’s stated goal and say he can reach it for obvious reasons. Green may not have talked about that goal with Kerr and Adams privately. He often has talked about the goal publicly, though. And with Green reporting feeling fully healthy and conditioned, he has something that could help him avoid complacency during the second half of the regular season.

“It pushes you hard on those days that you don’t feel like doing anything,” Green said. “It’s always great to have something to motivate you in anything. It gives me that little extra boost. Sometimes that little extra boost is what will put me over the top. So we’ll see.”